Hellertown Council Approves Incinerator Contract

May 03, 1988|by DONALD BLOUNT, The Morning Call

Despite the warning from its solicitor and opposition from some members, Hellertown Borough Council last night voted to approve a contract to join the Lehigh Valley Solid Waste Authority regional trash incinerator.

Council solicitor Richard C. Haber said the agreement presented to council by the authority contained "a number of flaws" that warranted it being rejected.

He said the 20-year agreement was too long and did not give control of the incinerator to the people involved in it.

Five years from now, the binding terms of this contract could be a detriment to the borough because of changing technology, he said. Yet, the authority refuses to negotiate a contract that will allow for those changes, he added.

"I want to make sure you're aware of this and all the (ramifications)," he said. "If you're underwriting (an organization), you should have some control over it, but you don't, and I find it an insult."

Councilmen Joseph Gushen and Thomas Kort also voiced opposition to the agreement.

Gushen said the 20-year agreement was too long and that the borough should look to get into recycling.

Also, "if it's the only game in town, I don't want to be part of the team," he added.

Kort said the agreement should be given additional time for review before making a decision.

Mayor Donald C. Zimpfer said the time to make a decision is now, because a vote had been held up two weeks ago and holding it longer "will not shed any new light."

Al Seiss, director of the Saucon Association for a Viable Environment, also spoke. Seiss told them that there are additional alternatives to the incinerator and that the borough should not join unless a suitable contract giving the township more control had been offered.

But the other councilmen said there were no alternatives for garbage removal. "We have no alternatives to go with the garbage," Councilman Richard Fluck said.

In other business, council voted not to designate Metro Ambulance Service as the borough's second-response unit.

Council also voted not to allow Metro to use the Dewey Ambulance Corps' crash truck on it calls because Metro is a private, for-profit business and could commit the truck to responding to calls in all parts of the Lehigh Valley.

Metro was seeking the use of the truck because a crash truck must be included among its equipment for it to gain state certification.